December 27, 2013

Word of mouth is a crucial factor in live theater – and that phenomenon
helped boost the success of central Ohio's best theater productions this year.
Theatergoers are inherently curious about exciting new productions that they hear about,
whether the most recent Pulitzer Prize winner for drama or the latest Broadway hits.
So it’s always been something of a mystery to me why more central Ohio theaters don’t take
advantage of that reliable phenomenon and stay on the look-out for opportunities to be the first to
present significant shows with buzz.
After all, the bigger the buzz, the bigger the likely audience.
As I look back on the year in theater, I was pleased to see more theaters seizing such
opportunities.

November 14, 2014

"There’s never a reason to give up, no matter what you’re running from or
running to," said Ezekial Andrew, one of the actors singing their hearts out in
Fugitive Songs.
That’s just one of the hopeful lessons learned by the six young-adult characters whose
journeys are dramatized in the Short North Stage’s admirable central Ohio premiere of the
off-Broadway musical. The intimate production opened Thursday and continues through Nov. 30 at the
Garden Theater’s Main Stage, 1187 N. High St.

March 12, 2012

New York director Matt Lenz was among the first to read
The Irish Curse, Marty Casella’s new comedy.
The subject and situation grabbed him: Five Irish guys, cursed by a certain small problem,
get together regularly in a support group.
Lenz, an up-and-coming director with major Broadway and regional credits, was the first to
direct the play for its off-Broadway premiere.
Now Lenz has come to Columbus to stage the play for Short North Stage’s area premiere, which
will open Friday at the Garden Theatre’s Green Room.
“It’s sweet and funny and human,” Lenz said.
“It’s a human comedy about men, how we deal with our insecurities, our body issues and the
things we let get in our way.”

October 18, 2011

For Stephen Sondheim fans, the first production by the hugely promising Short North Stage turns
out to be even more delightful than expected.
From its lovely singing to its impressive staging, this
Follies is one to savor and remember – that is, if you’re lucky enough to snag tickets
before it sells out.
The fledgling professional troupe billed its first musical as a concert-style production in
its advance publicity, but this rare revival grew during rehearsals into almost a fully staged
musical under the brilliant direction of Kevin McGuire.

September 05, 2014

"With one look, I’ll ignite a blazeI’ll return to my glory days."Norma Desmond, singing
With One Look in
Sunset Boulevard

With one look at the 2014-15 theater season, anticipation mounts.
There’s magic in the making this fall in particular, with several Tony-winning musicals on
the way – including one never before seen in Columbus.
Plus, this season will be "eventful," with the Midwest premiere of an acclaimed international
tour of a timely and topical play by the Actors Touring Company of Scotland.

February 23, 2015

Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski in
A Streetcar Named Desire.
Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly in
Breakfast at Tiffany.
John Travolta as Danny Zuko in
Grease.
Jack Nicholson as J.J. Gittes in Chinatown.
Bette Davis and Claude Rains, sharing a highly symbolic moment together at the end of
Now, Voyager.
All wonderful actors in wonderful roles.
And they all smoked – onstage and on film, in the case of Brando.
Smoking was part of the charisma and mystique of their characters.
In some cases, decades ago, actors actually did smoke real cigarettes when called for.
Not anymore.
Not in this day and age, when everyone knows about the well-documented, perils of smoking.
Yet, some plays and films still require actors to smoke.

January 26, 2014

Tonight, at the Jewish Community Center, the Central Ohio Theatre Critics
Circle presented its 20th annual citations for outstanding achievements in theater.
Rather than focusing on competitive annual "best" categories, the circle annually honors
local individuals or groups whose work "promotes the higher values of theater" or "expands the
possibilities of theater."

January 27, 2012

The Central Ohio Theatre Critics Circle has presented its 18th annual citations for outstanding
theater efforts of the past year.
Rather than focusing on competitive annual "best" categories, the circle annually honors
local individuals or groups whose work "promotes the higher values of theater" or "expands the
possibilities of theater."
Three institutions or troupes received citations: Ohio State University, Shadowbox Live and
the fledgling Short North Stage.

August 11, 2014

A New York theater producer, impressed by his first experience of
Columbus, has returned with fond memories and high hopes for his second rock musical here.
Ben Skinner is co-producer of
Murder Ballad, which has just been extended through Aug. 22 at the Garden Theater’s Green
Room. The Midwestern premiere of the off-Broadway rock musical opened Friday in an environmental
staging presented cabaret-style with the audience at tables around a central bar.
"It’s very unusual," Skinner said.
"We use the whole floor space as New York City because it’s set in New York... The audience
has drinks in their hands, the actors are at the actual bar swigging drinks, and there’s a band,
with the narrator guiding the audience through the story."

October 01, 2013

Everything’s coming up Sondheim in October.
It should be swell. It could be great – almost like having the whole world of musical theater
on a plate.
So curtain up and light the lights for some rarely seen but richly rewarding shows from the
Broadway master of the modern musical.
Not a day will go by – well, almost – without some sort of performance this month of Stephen
Sondheim musicals, from the long-awaited central Ohio premiere of his Pulitzer-winning
Sunday in the Park with George to a rare revival of his provocative
Assassins.
Not only that - an acclaimed British revival of Sondheim’s rarely seen
Merrily We Roll Along will be available in a nationwide cinema screening.
With three rarely seen Sondheim shows available in the next few weeks, his fans truly have a
"good thing going."

October 08, 2014

Those coping with the pell-mell pace of modern technology might find a
cautionary tale in
Sunset Boulevard.
Short North Stage’s multimedia production of the Tony-winning musical continues through
Oct. 19 at the Garden Theater’s Main Stage, 1187 N. High St.
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s darkly melodic drama, adapted from the classic Billy Wilder film about
a 1940s Hollywood screenwriter who gets fatally involved with a faded silent-screen star,
speaks to 21st century anxieties about the difficulty of keeping up with changing times.
"As crazy as Norma Desmond may seem, we all can understand her innate fears," director Scott
Hunt said.

October 13, 2011

Follies? Yes!
Another folly after decades of failed efforts to launch and sustain professional theater in
Columbus? Let’s hope not.
The Short North Stage – an ambitious effort to bring professional theater, musicals and more
to the Short North – will make its debut Friday at the still-under-renovation Garden Theatre on N.
High St.

December 31, 2012

Central Ohio can count its blessings with three professional theaters offering a wide range of
plays, musicals, comedy shows and new works.
Today, CATCO – the leading professional Equity troupe in central Ohio since Players Theatre’s
abrupt collapse two decades ago – is facing healthy competition from Shadowbox Live and the Short
North Stage.
One result is that each group faces the challenge of better defining and expanding their
niche in the greater scheme of central Ohio’s performing-arts scene.

January 02, 2015

There’s much to look forward to onstage in 2015.
Or at least one can hope so. Because live performances are always unpredictable, you never
know exactly what you’re going to get – even if the advance word is good and even if the show or
the performers have a strong track record.
Yet, midway through the 2014-15 season in central Ohio, it’s possible to make a few educated
guesses about at least a few of the hundreds of shows and the thousands of performances already
being planned through the rest of the season.
BalletMet Columbus, Broadway in Columbus, CATCO, the Columbus Association for the Performing
Arts, the Columbus Symphony, Gallery Players, the Short North Stage and the Wexner Center for the
Arts surely are far from the only arts groups planning likely crowd-pleasers.

May 28, 2014

What plays or musicals are you most looking forward to this summer?
I’m looking forward to several that will offer something that central Ohio hasn’t seen before
– or hasn’t seen in a long time.
Central Ohio has a diverse array of theater companies and programs - almost 70 at my last
informal count, from professional theater producers and presenters to semi-professional troupes,
community theaters and college programs.
Happily, a good number of them don’t take the summer off.